Long-term loss of smell, but not taste, common after COVID-19: study
Deficits were greatest in individuals with the original untyped and Alpha variant infections.
Olfactory dysfunction, especially for smell, is more common in individuals with prior COVID-19 versus individuals with no history of infection, with deficits varying by SARS-CoV-2 variant type, according to a US study in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia used self-administered psychophysical tests, the 53-item Waterless Empirical Taste Test (WETT) and the 40-item University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), to investigate the association of COVID-19 with long-term outcomes in taste and smell function.
